Family Math Night series seeks to provide strategies to make subject less intimidating

Upcoming Family Math Nights

Each of the activities will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the respective campuses.

• Feb. 26: Alta Murrieta Elementary, 39475 Whitewood

• Feb. 28: Buchanan Elementary, 40121 Torrey Pines Road

For information, call (951) 696-1600, ext. 1022

Cherie DeLeon, a mother with two children attending E. Hale Curran Elementary School in Murrieta, took her kids to school last week for a Family Math Night and was surprised at how much fun it was.

“I loved it. We also brought my preschooler and he could even do it,” DeLeon said as she gathered up her three kids, including her kindergartner and her fourth-grader. “And they gave us free pizza. What could be better than that?”

DeLeon was among the parents who took home a packet of math games for her kids to practice on their own time. “I’m bringing some of the materials home with me. My daughter is learning division and we’re going to do it at home,” she said.

Family Math Night at E. Hale Curran Elementary School was held Feb. 5. About 150 families, plus 20 or so teachers and staff members, attended. The Family Math Night included eight math activities for students to do with their parents, older siblings or other relatives. The games range from learning about number place values to working on patterns, multiplication, addition and geometry.

The Murrieta Valley Unified School District began hosting its series of Family Math Nights this year on Jan. 29, when the first event was held at Rail Ranch Elementary School.

In addition to Rail Ranch and E. Hale Curran, four other elementary schools either held an event or plan to host a Family Math Night through the end of February.

The evenings give parents and students a chance to work together to become familiar with strategies that enhance learning in math. Teachers encouraged parents to play the interactive math games with their children at home as well.

“It’s really a triad with parents, school and the kids. To get the best performance, you’ve got to get the involvement of all three,” said Kerry Wise, who teaches a fourth- and fifth-grade combination class at E. Hale Curran this year. Wise was among the teachers who helped students with the activities.

Devon Young, a second-grader, sat at a table with her mom, Tonia, and little sister Maia, working on patterns with small colored foam and plastic shapes. Students were encouraged to use the colored shapes to create what is called the “AB” pattern, the “ABC” pattern or the “AABB” pattern. Or they could create their own pattern, according to an instruction sheet taped to the table.

“It’s really fun when you make it fun,” said Devon, who was thrilled when she won a peacock puzzle at the event in a raffle.

First-grader Alyze Baez sat at the “Pattern Block Party” table filling in shapes over a design on a piece of paper. The exercise was designed to familiarize the children with different shapes and geometry. Alyze said math is her favorite subject. When asked whether she thinks math is hard, she said, “For the ones that go up to like 90 or 100 or 40, those are the hard ones.”

Teacher Michelle McCarthy, who helps students with math and reading interventions, said math isn’t as hard as many children think.

“More kids have a phobia of math, but probably are better at it than they think,” McCarthy said. “It’s all about practice. The more you do, the better you get.”